Bombing of the Assembly (Eighth of April, 1929)

In the face of actions by the revolutionaries, the British government enacted the Defence of India Act to give more power to the police.[36] The purpose of the Act was to combat revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh.[36] However, the Act was then passed under the ordinance that claimed that it was in the best interest of the public. In response to this act, the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association planned to explode a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly where the ordinance was going to be passed. This idea was originated by Bhagat Singh, who was influenced by a similar bombing by a martyr anarchist Auguste Vaillant in the French Assembly.[37] It was decided that Bhagat Singh should go to Russia, while Batukeshwar Dutt should carry on the bombing with Sukhdev.[37] Sukhdev then forced Bhagat Singh to call for another meeting and here it was decided, against the initial agreement, that Batukeshwar Dutt and Bhagat Singh would carry on the bombing.[37] Bhagat Singh also disapproved that the two should be escorted after the bombing by the rest of the party.[37]

On 8 April 1929, Singh and Dutt threw a bomb onto the corridors of the assembly and shouted “Inquilab Zindabad!” (“Long Live the Revolution!”).[38] This was followed by a shower of leaflets stating that it takes a loud voice to make the deaf hear.[39]

The bomb neither killed nor injured anyone; Singh and Dutt claimed that this was deliberate on their part, a claim substantiated both by British forensics investigators who found that the bomb was not powerful enough to cause injury, and by the fact that the bomb was thrown away from people.[40] Singh and Dutt gave themselves up for arrest after the bomb.[40] He and Dutt were sentenced to ‘Transportation for Life‘ for the bombing on 12 June 1929.